


A price to pay

by nxttime



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Broken Bones, Gen, Graphic Description, Hurt No Comfort, Impulsive writing, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 02:10:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19347427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nxttime/pseuds/nxttime
Summary: “You don’t know who I am.”The most frustrating part of this entire ordeal, hands-down. All the rogues were in Arkham and Blackgate. All the usual suspects could be crossed off the list–and they had been.Bruce had no clues as to who had his sons.“You don’t know what I want.”Another very frustrating thing was that he really didn’t know.“So I’ll tell you what I want.”





	A price to pay

**Author's Note:**

> songfic for y'all yay. the song is “blood//water” by grandson and i wouldn’t recommend it for some of y'all who don’t appreciate loud volumes and screaming. (the chorus gets really loud, and they yell it a bit. the chorus is also, funnily enough, the lyrics i use) **the warnings are in the tags, so please look at them before you read this.**  
>  anyways enjoy the angst

_Never get free_

Bruce slammed his hand down on the console of the watchtower’s computer with a frustrated cry.

“Where is he?!” Bruce yelled up at the screen.

“Batman.”

He whirled to face the rest of the League, anger and desperation rolling off him in waves.

Clark stepped forward a rested a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll find them.”

Bruce shook his hand off and went back to trying to find something that could give him a lead on the person who had Dick and Jason.

_Lamb to the slaughter_

To his right Tim’s hands were flying across a separate console also attached to the watchtower. He looked up at the screen, muttering things to himself, then wrote down notes on a little notepad and went back to typing.

Damian could only watch, anxiety and fear mounting up higher and higher the longer it took to find his brothers.

Abruptly, the monitors went black and the lights cut out.

A little text box popped up on the monitors.

**INCOMING TRANSMISSION–SOURCE: UNKNOWN. RECIEVE TRANSMISSION? Y/N**

Everyone froze and the Bats went rigid.

For a long few seconds, it was like someone had stopped time; nobody moved and everyone held their breath as they stared at the text box.

_What'chu gon’ do?_

Slowly, Tim moved his cursor over the Y. He clicked it.

Then wished he hadn’t.

Rapidly every screen blacked out for a millisecond, then came back to life with a live-streamed video.

Jason and Dick stared back, both domino masks still mercifully left in place.

_When there’s blood in the water_

Bruce’s heart skipped a beat.

Dick cracked a pained smile, and rasped, “Hey, B.”

Tim sucked in a sharp breath when the camera slowly zoomed out and exposed the rest of his brothers.

Jason had a knife buried to the hilt in his ribs, and his shoulder looked dislocated. Dick didn’t look injured, but his chest stuttered every time he breathed, and blood was running from his nose and mouth.

They were hurt. They were both hurt, and it was bad, but they were _alive._ They were still breathing. Not dead. _Alive._

_We’ll never get free_

“Batman.”

A figure walked into camera and stood behind Dick, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing a bit, making Dick bite his lip to keep from crying out at the pain.

Bruce jerked, but there was a hand on his shoulder holding him back, and it was so ridiculous because _he couldn’t do anything_ –it was just _one_ screen. Just a screen. He wasn’t with his boys, and he couldn’t do anything to protect them.

_Lamb to the slaughter_

“You don’t know who I am.”

The most frustrating part of this entire ordeal, hands-down. All the rogues were in Arkham and Blackgate. All the usual suspects could be crossed off the list–and they had been.

Bruce had no clues as to who had his sons.

“You don’t know what I want.”

Another very frustrating thing was that he really didn’t know.

“So I’ll tell you what I want.”

_What'chu gon’ do?_

The hand on Dick’s shoulder tightened, and he groaned.

Jason jerked in his seat.

“All I want,” the person said, the hand moving to Dick’s chin, “is for you to pay your dues.”

“Stop,” Jason’s voice cracked. _“Stop.”_

_When there’s blood in the water_

“I love you, B,” Dick gasped out. “I love Red and Robin and Agent A. I love you guys.”

A second person walked out and stood behind Jason, and one of their hands slid to his chin.

_The price of your greed_

Jason went still, his chest heaving, and closed his eyes. He cursed.

Tim was frantically trying to trace the signal, but whoever had his brothers knew what they were doing. The marker kept moving around, from Taiwan to New York to Toronto to Albany and so many other places. It was ridiculous the layers of encryption this person had, and it was infuriating that each layer was tougher to crack than the last.

 _“I can’t get a ping!”_ Tim screamed, slamming his palm on the console and hunching into himself. “I can’t–I–I can’t–”

He started going into hysterics, breaths too quick and sharp, lenses wide with his eyes, and his hands shaking and someone tried to calm him down.

Bruce was struggling to tear his gaze away from the main monitor.

“It’s not your fault,” Jason hissed through clenched teeth. “It’s not. Don’t think it is, for _one motherfucking second,_ assholes. Not your fault. We love you.”

_Is your son and your daughter_

There were twin wet _‘crunch’_ sounds, and Bruce’s knees gave out beneath him as Damian gave a yell full of pain and grief and Tim dissociated.

Bruce would have fallen to the ground if hands hadn’t caught him and lowered him to his knees gently as he made pained wheezing and keening sounds.

_What'chu gon’ do?_

He’d just watched his sons get murdered.

He’d just watched people– _two, unidentified persons_ –break his sons necks, and he–

Bruce screamed and tears streamed from his face.

He couldn’t do anything but scream.

_When there’s blood in the water_


End file.
